Stars Misaligned
by Zaidie
Summary: In hindsight, he really should never have answered the phone. Don/Robin pairing.
1. Part I Robin

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Warning: Set in season five, but there are no specific episode spoilers. Rated for some swearing.

* * *

It was two o'clock on a Saturday afternoon and Robin Brooks found herself staring dismally at the remains of her attempt to bake desert. Normally, Robin was a fair cook, not great by any means, but she managed, _normally_. Today however, she was quickly discovering, was just not her day. She should have realized it this morning, the second that Don had accidentally woken her up as he was getting dressed. It should have dawned on her, as she lay there sleepily watching him slide his holster onto his belt. _It should have. _But it hadn't.

It was Saturday, Robin was not working, Don had specifically asked not to be on call, and as a result she had assumed that they would spend the morning cuddled up together in bed. _Foolish me, _Robin thought darkly as she scrapped the burnt pie into the trash, trying to remind herself not to be angry with Don. He had tried at least. Asked for the day off, requested not to be called in, _and yet, off he had gone, gun on his belt. _

Robin sighed and sank down into a kitchen chair. All she wanted was one day, _was that so much to ask? _She really did not think it was. The haze of smoke from her baking disaster was clearing, and Robin contemplated what her next step should be. _Try again? Pick something up on her way to her parents? Call to cancel and crawl back into bed? _As tempting as the last option sounded, Robin knew her parents would be far from impressed, especially since this dinner had been planned for awhile, what with her sister and her family being in town.

She leaned her head against the wall tiredly, thinking back to the conversation that had started her day on its downwards spiral.

_Robin blinked sleepily, trying to figure out what had woken her. A noise off to her left drew her attention and she rolled over to find Don, standing fully dressed at the side of the bed, fixing his belt. "Don?" she muttered tiredly._

_He turned to face her, surprised, "Robin, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," he said, his tone apologetic. _

"_Work?" she asked sitting up and glancing at the clock. The LED display informed her that it was just past eight, which was odd, because normally they were up well before then. Normally, only not today because it was Saturday, she realized as she became more alert. And not any Saturday, today was The Saturday - the one Don was supposed to have taken off, so that they could go to her parents for dinner. That Saturday. _

_Don winced apologetically at the question. "I know, I know," he muttered. "I asked for the day off, I did, but there is some big raid going down today, and half the teams not involved in that have some training exercise," he explained. "A case came up, and Wright called. I promise I will just be running it until the raid is over and another team can be reassigned." _

"_Don, we're going to dinner. At my parents," she reminded him._

"_I know, and I promise I will be there," he said leaning down and kissing her lightly. "I'll just have to come a little later than planned," h__e added before heading out the door. _

Robin sighed again as she pulled herself out of the memory. Right now she_ should _be pulling a nice pie out of the oven, Don _should _be putting on a nice clean ironed dress shirt, and together the two of them _should _be headed over to her parents house. Unfortunately all the 'should be's' in the world would not make any difference and if she wanted to get to her parents by three like she had promised, she had to leave now.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Dinner was planned for six-thirty, Robin's sister Hannah and her family had arrived the night before, Robin had arrived just after three, and Don had yet to arrive. Currently, at least according to the clock she had been starting at every five minutes since she had arrived, it was closing in on five.

_Where on Earth was he? _ Robin wondered while trying to keep track of the conversation between her mother and Hannah. When he had said 'a little late' Robin had been thinking maybe four. _Or maybe hoping was the correct term. _She subtly pulled out her cell-phone to check the signal, for the ninth time in the last half hour. She glared at it for a moment as though willing it to ring, and nearly dropped it when it actually did.

Without bothering to check the caller ID she brought the phone to her ear, assuming it would be her wayward boyfriend. "Hello," she said, quickly getting up from the armchair where she had been sitting and heading into the hallway.

"Robin," Don's voice came over the line, sounding a little far away and rather tired

"Don Eppes," Robin ground out quietly, to avoid her family overhearing in the next room. "Where the hell are you?" she demanded, forgetting what had become her little mantra, 'don't be mad at Don, he tried.' "You promised you would be here."

"I know. I'm really sorry," Don replied slowly, "The case just got a little out of hand."

"All I asked for was one day, one day where you did not have to cancel or reschedule for work," she leaned against the wall and forced herself to take a calming breath. This was not the time to pick a fight, not over the phone, not about this. In all honesty, she was just anxious about him finally meeting her family and her desperate desire for them to love Don as much as she did was making her quick to snap. _She'd had everything all planned out, and now nothing was going right._

Don's voice interrupted her self-pity thoughts, "I know how much this means to you Robin, I do. And I will be there as soon as I can," he assured her.

Robin blinked momentarily confused. She had just assumed Don had been calling to tell her was not coming. She felt horrible, especially after having nearly yelled at him. While she would have preferred the original plan, she had to admit he was making every effort to not break his promise. "You will?" she asked trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Yeah," came his reply.

"Okay, I'll see you soon then?"

"Yeah, soon."

Robin nodded, though she knew Don could not see her, and closed the phone she held tightly in her hand. _Well it was not the way she had planned, but at least it was better than him cancelling. _

Robin walked back into the livingroom and shot her mother a small smile, "That was Don, he's on his way."


	2. Part I Don

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Zai: Thanks for all the interest, I really appreciate all of you who read the first chapter, and special thanks to Saphiretwin, Cris and Hallie for dropping a review.

* * *

It was two o'clock on a Saturday afternoon and Special Agent Don Eppes found himself staring dazedly at his watch. On a closer inspection, he found that the second hand was just twitching back and forth and the other two hands remained determinedly stationary under the cracked glass face. _Maybe it's not two o'clock, _Don mused vaguely, it was however definitely a Saturday afternoon, of that Don was certain. . . _well_ _fairly certain anyway._

Don sighed and looked around for a working clock. This was not how he wanted to spend his day, regardless of exactly which day today was. He shifted uncomfortably and glared at the man hovering by the curtains that partitioned his exam area from the others in the ER. Colby, for his part, calmly ignored Don's displeased look and continued to scan the ER for an available doctor. _This is all Granger's fault, _Don decided, he had after-all, informed EMS that he was fine. _So what if it had taken him a few minutes to regain consciousness? He was fine now. _It had been Colby who had insisted on this little trip. _Okay, so EMS had thought it was a good idea too, but that did not let Granger off the hook. _

Gingerly Don brought his left hand up to touch his throbbing head. His fingers found the edges of the gauze the paramedics had taped over the small wound on his forehead, he could feel some dried blood but it felt okay now, _well relatively speaking anyway. _

"It's stopped bleeding Granger, can we just go?" he asked desperately. This was fast becoming one of those days that he had wished he had never left his bed.

Colby sighed exasperatedly and turned around to face his boss, "Don, it stopped bleeding nearly an hour ago. If you've just notice that, then you definitely need to stick around and have the doctor check you out."

"I'm fine," Don protested grumpily. _An hour? Really? _Don wondered, _had they really been sitting here an hour? _So maybe he was not at his most alert, but damn-it he was _not_ supposed to be here. It was his day off for crying out loud! _Huh, that's right, it _was _in fact his day off. See, what do you know? It is Saturday after-all. _

Colby shot him a look that let Don know exactly how much he disagreed with that assessment. "Damn-it," Don muttered, "It's supposed to my day off."

In fact, now that Don thought about it, he had actually specifically asked _not_ to be called in. _So this was all Wright's fault, _Don concluded as he closed his eyes trying to shut out the throbbing in his head. If only Wright had not called and dragged him out of his nice warm cozy bed, Don thought glumly recalling his rude awakening that morning.

_A buzzing near his head was the first sound Don became aware of. Swatting at the air around him Don tried, unsuccessfully, to chase off the annoying insect. The buzzing continued and Don tiredly forced his eyes open. The bedside table came into view just in time to for him to watch his cell-phone vibrate right off the edge. _

_Sleepily he sat up and reached down for the offending object. Slipping out of bed he snapped the phone open and brought it to his ear. "Eppes," he said quietly as he headed to the hall so as not to wake Robin -_ That's right, Don thought annoyed, it was not even his cozy bed that Wright had dragged him out of, it was Robin's. That was far, far worse - _He listened silently as Wright explained the situation at the office to him before replying, "I'll be there in an hour sir," and hung up the phone. He made his way back into the bedroom and stared longingly at the rumpled bed-sheets and his empty side of the bed. On her side, Robin was half wrapped in a blanket, her dark hair messily framing her head, a serene look upon her beautiful face. Don stood by the bed in his boxers watching her sleep for nearly ten minutes before he managed to summon enough will power to turn away in search of clothes._

"Don?"

"Huh?" Don asked as he brought his focus back to the present and the ER exam room in which he was sitting, _kinda preferred being in Robin's bedroom, _he thought, _even if it was just in my mind. _

"I asked if you were still with me, the doctor is going to come take a look at you in a second," Colby explained, and Don distinctly got the impression that Colby was repeating himself, although he really did not recall hearing him before. _Probably due to the little men pounded hammers inside his skull. _He really wished they were not quiet so loud. In fact they were making it down-right hard to focus.

"Good, then we can finally get out of here," Don said, _and maybe I can find my way back to Robin's actual room. . . wait. . . Robin. . . Shit. _"Colby? What time is it?"

"Uh," Colby replied glancing at his watch, "'Bout four-thirty. Why?"

_Double shit. _Don fumbled for his cell-phone, only to find it was not attached to his belt as it should be. _Huh, course not, that would require something to actually work out for him today. _"Phone, Colb. I need your phone," Don demanded just as a slender Asian man in a lab coat walked into the cubicle.

"Later, let the doctor check you out now," Colby replied firmly.

"Granger," Don practically growled, ignoring the man who had come to a stop nearby.

Colby in turn ignored him, turning instead to the doctor and offering his hand, "I'm Agent Granger."

The doctor accepted his hand, "Doctor Kwan," he replied before he turned his attention towards Don, who had returned to glaring at his subordinate. "And you must be Agent Eppes."

"Must be," Don muttered darkly not taking his eyes of Colby, the refuser of the phone.

The doctor raised an eyebrow at Don's tone, and Colby shrugged helplessly, "He's always a little testy when he nearly gets blown up."

Dr. Kwan did not comment, instead he set to work. He ran Don through a set of basic and boring questions. Similar to the ones the paramedics had run him through earlier in the afternoon when he had regained consciousness. This time however, Don was fairly certain he scored a little higher, _after-all he knew it was Saturday now. _

After that, Dr. Kwan insisted on flashing a blinding light in his face, re-igniting the forgotten pain in his shoulder, drawing attention to various bruises Don had been happy to ignore and ended it all off by prodding the cut on his head. _And this was what he sat here for over an hour waiting for? _

"Any dizziness, or nausea?" Dr. Kwan asked as he finished cleaning the area around Don's gash again.

"A little," Don admitted reluctantly.

"Um hum. Figured as much," the doctor replied. "You've got a concussion, not a severe one, but still it's going to take at lest a week for all the symptoms to disappear entirely. And this is going to need some stitches," he added with a final look at Don's forehead.

"Okay fine," Don replied turning to Colby, "He looked, now give me your phone."

With a long-suffering sigh Colby dug out his cell-phone and handed it to Don as Dr. Kwan prepared the needle and sutures.

From memory Don dialled Robin's cell number. It rang once and than she picked up as though waiting for the call, _probably was, considering I was supposed to be there awhile ago. _

"Hello," her voice came over the phone, and Don found himself thinking it was a really pretty voice. _Get a grip Eppes, focus. _

"Robin," he managed finally.

"Don Eppes," Robin's voice was low and dangerous now. _Uh oh, here we go. Damn this is so Granger's fault too, he should have just given me his phone. _"Where the hell are you? You promised you would be here."

_Where was he? _Fair question, a hospital, he was fairly certain Colby had mention which one, or maybe it was the paramedics who had told him, _whatever someone had told him. _The important thing was that he had not been listening. _The pounding in his head had been a little distracting at the time. That and the paramedic popping his dislocated shoulder back into place. _Oh well, she did not really want to know that he was sitting in the emergency room anyway. On to the next sentence, _he'd promised he_'_d be there. _Yup, he remembered that one. _Note to self; never make promises. _

"I know. I'm really sorry," Don replied slowly, "the case just got a little out of hand." _Yeah like the 'witness' decided he'd booby-trap his house with a few explosives. _Colby rolled his eyes and Don took this to mean Colby disagreed with his assessment of the situation.

"All I asked for was one day, one day where you did not have to cancel or reschedule for work," Robin snapped.

"I know how much this means to you Robin, I do. And I will be there as soon as I can," he promised, _Wait didn't I just say . . . oh never mind. _Colby was now shooting him an incredulous look and Don guessed that Colby disapproved of this statement too.

"You will?" came Robin's hopeful replied, and Don felt like an ass. _Hell, she was expected this call all right. She was expecting him to call and say he wasn't coming. _He sighed, _was he really that bad? Damn, he had tried to do it right this time, took the day off, asked not to be called, and what did he get for his trouble? A screwed up case, involving a witness interview that ended in an explosion and a killer headache. This was just great. _

"Yeah," he replied. This was it, he was not going to add 'let his girl-friend down' to his stellar list of accomplishments for the day.

"Okay," Robin replied sounding brighter, "I'll see you soon then."

"Yeah soon," he replied, snapping the phone closed and handing it back to Colby allowing the doctor to move in to close the wound. "Agent Eppes," Dr. Kwan spoke up, after being silent the entire call, "I really think, with the concussion, it is best if you spend the night under observation."

"No," Don replied firmly trying not to wince as the doctor applied the anaesthetic and began to work.

"Don," Colby spoke up warningly. "You have a concussion."

"A mild one," he shot back annoyed. _He was going to keep his promise to Robin. _Besides, he wasn't even feeling nauseous anymore and his shoulder had gone back to a dull throb.

"More like a medium on the severity scale," Dr. Kwan interjected. Don shrugged.

"Setting aside whether you should or should not stay at the hospital," Colby began, ignoring the look the doctor shot him, "Do you really want to meet Robin's parents while you're dazed out of your mind and looking like you've just been blown up?"

Ah so Granger _had _been listening to all that complaining he had done earlier about having to work on his day off and why his day off was in fact so important. _If he were being completely honest with himself, he had probably been trying to work of his anxiety about meeting Robin's parents by whining about being called in. _He really loved Robin, and while he had met several of his girl-friend's parents before, he really needed to not screw this up. Somehow it seemed a little late for that now. _He really should have stayed in bed today, and never answered that call. _

"What do you think?" he muttered aloud. "Look I promised Robin. I'm going."

Colby sighed and turned to Dr. Kwan, who stood by with a disapproving frown. "Guess he needs discharge papers."

"I remind you, this is against my medical advice."

"You just want to observe him right? So if someone stays with him, it's the same sort of thing right?" Colby asked.

Dr. Kwan sighed, "I suppose. So long as he comes back immediately if anything worsens, and he should be woken every few hours tonight," he replied reluctantly, turning to leave for the discharge papers.

Don glanced at his watch, _huh what do you know, it's still two o'clock. _

"It's about ten after five," Colby informed him before he could ask.

Nodding Don stared down at his shirt. Blood was soaked into what this morning had been a clean dress-shirt. _Damn head-wounds, they always bleed so much. _"I haven't got time to go home," he informed Colby desperately.

Colby just stared at him blankly for a long moment. Finally he sighed, "I knew I should have let David deal with you. He offered me the scene. Why didn't I take the scene," he muttered darkly as he started to un-do the buttons on his own shirt. It was not clean exactly, but Don was willing to go with dirty but not-covered in blood over his current shirt at this moment. Colby, now wearing just his t-shirt, handed Don the dark blue dress-shirt. "Don't blame me if it don't fit."

Don tossed his own shirt towards the garbage, that much blood would never come out, and pulled on Colby's shirt. It was too big, but he really no longer cared at this point.

A nurse came in with the discharge papers, and Don filled them out quickly, it was not like it was the first time he had filled out the AMA forms. He handed them back to the nurse as Colby gestured towards the ER doors, "Come on let's go."

"Let's go?" Don repeated blankly.

Colby held up the keys to Don's SUV which he had driven over. "I may let you sign yourself out AMA, for the sole reason of letting you keep a promise to Robin, but I am not going to face your father if he finds out I let you drive with a head injury," he replied turning and leading the way out of the ER without waiting for a response.

Normally Don would have argued. _Normally. _Right now however, Don was content to give in without a fight. _After-all_, he decided as he stood up and the room tilted around him, _maybe letting Colby drive wasn't such a bad idea. _


	3. Part II Robin

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Zai: Thanks again to everyone reading and especially Saphiretwin and Schmidj3 for the reviews!

* * *

Robin fidgeted in her seat, actively forcing herself to not look at the clock. Watching the minutes tick by was not helping at all, in fact it just made things worse. Instead she turned her attention back to her sister who was sitting across the living room next to her husband Matthew.

"It was so cute Robin," Hannah said finishing off the story that Robin had only heard bits and pieces of.

"Mom!" an exasperated voice came from the corner of the living room, where Robin's nephews Randy and Josh were seated near the tv, watching a hockey game. Robin glanced over, but could not tell which of the two ten year-olds had objected to the story, most likely both she figured, as the story seemed to have been an embarrassing tale involving both boys.

Robin smiled and hoped her sister would not realize she had not actually been listening. "I'm sure it was," she replied vaguely, looking up as her mother appeared in the doorway between the living room and kitchen.

"Robin honey, you don't think he might have gotten lost do you?" her mother asked, referring, Robin knew, to Don who was still frustratingly absent.

"He has my cell number, if he was lost he would phone," Robin assured her mother who just shook her head and disappeared back into the kitchen muttering what sounded to Robin like, 'do men ever ask for directions?'

"What's so pressing for a lawyer to do on a Saturday anyhow?" her father's voice drifted out from the kitchen where he was checking on the roast. "Last I checked courts are only open Monday through Friday."

Robin glanced towards the kitchen bewildered, _a lawyer? Now where had her parents gotten the idea that Don was lawyer? She certainly had not said anything like that. _"Don's not a lawyer Dad," she called back.

A moment later her father appeared in the doorway, a meat thermometer dangling from one hand, "What do you mean he's not a lawyer? You told your mother he was."

"No I didn't," Robin denied, now thoroughly confused. She had specifically not mentioned Don's job to her parents, because she was a little wary about how they would respond when she told them she was dating a federal agent. It was not that her parents had anything against the FBI, _well not really._ They just seemed to think that Robin should settle down with a nice lawyer, or a businessman, or maybe a doctor like Hannah had.

Also, there was the whole little issue that her parents absolutely abhorred guns and violence of any kind, and had generally tried to dissuade her from becoming a federal prosecutor because they were nervous about her being in such close proximity to criminals. They had finally, after a few years and several arguments, accepted her job but that did not mean she had really wanted to advertise the fact the her boyfriend was a gun-wielding fed.

"But you said you worked together," her father continued clearly puzzled.

_Ah. _she _had _in fact told her mother that, it had seemed to be a better idea than to tell her parents that they had first hit it off at a gun range, seeing as her parents did not even know she owned a gun. And it was not like it wasn't true, they had met through work. It was just that her mother had apparently translated that to mean Don was a lawyer at her office. Which she had to admit, kind of was a logical assumption when she thought about it.

"Yes well, we did met while working a case together. But he's not a lawyer Dad." _Might as well just get it over with and say it, maybe they won't mind. _"He's with the FBI."

Her dad just stared at her blankly for a moment, before finally finding his voice again, "He's what?" _Then again, maybe they will. _

"Don's a federal agent," Robin repeated calmly, although she knew her father had heard her perfectly fine the first time.

Silence fell over the living-room as her usually rather vocal father, was apparently at a loss for an appropriate response. Across the room her nephews, who had largely been ignoring the 'boring adult conversation' as the had no doubt labelled it, did not have the same problem. "A federal agent?" one of them, Josh, Robin noted absently, spoke up.

"Cool! Does he have a gun?" his twin brother, Randy, continued.

"He ever been in a shoot-out?" Josh asked excitedly at the exact moment his brother asked, "Has he ever killed anyone?"

"Boys!" their mother admonished horrified.

Both boys seemed to ignore their mother as they looked to their aunt curiously.

"Uh," Robin stammered oh-so-eloquently.

"Josh, Randy, why don't you go set the table?" Robin's mother suggested, in a tone of voice that indicated it was anything but a suggestion, as she re-appeared in the doorway behind her husband. Reluctantly the two boys sighed and got up to head out of the room both clearly dawdling in hopes to hear more about the absent federal agent.

When the boys were finally gone, her mother looked at Robin, "Why didn't you tell us before?" she asked.

"What does it matter what he does?" she shot back defensively glancing over to her older sister to see if any help would be forthcoming. Judging by how her sister and Matthew were trying to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible, she guessed not.

"It doesn't honey," her mother assured her placatingly, "It's just a federal agent . . . it's such a dangerous job, are you sure that's the kind of man you want to be with? Wouldn't it be better to have someone a little more . . . reliable?"

Robin knew what her mother really meant, _someone who will come home every night. _And she was not just referring to the great risk of injury, although Robin suspected that was a large part of it, she also meant the on-call anytime of the day or night part of the job. Robin would have argued with her, _but it's a little hard to defend his job when the reason he's not here is because he was called in._

It was not like she liked those aspects of Don's job either. She hated knowing that every time he walked out the door he could get hurt, badly. Hated worrying when he was late, or called to cancel a date. But she loved Don, and she knew that job was an important part of who he was, and she would never ask him to give it up.

And speaking of being late . . . _What was keeping Don anyway?_


	4. Part II Don

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Zai: Special thanks to reviewers, Pink Blackberry Girl, Cris, Chole and Lisa Paris.

* * *

Don fidgeted in his seat, staring unfocussedly at the dash board's digital clock. He knew Colby was half-watching him from the driver's seat. He was also fairly certain that Colby was driving along a straight road, going a few miles below the speed-limit. _Too damn bad it didn't feel like it. _His stomach lurched as his gaze slipped from the clock to the widow, and the world tipped and slid past. He quickly shifted his attention back to the more stationary clock.

"You sure about this Don?" Colby asked, for what had to be the fifth time since they had pulled out of the parking lot. _Actually, _Don mused, _it had probably been more, since he had most likely spaced out through a few. That might be why he keeps asking. . . _

"Yes," he ground back looking up, trying to gauge where they were. Too late he remembered why he had been staring so intently at the clock. His stomach flipped obnoxiously again. He closed his eyes and willed it to settle. Only for some reason it did not feel inclined to listen.

"Uh Colb?" he managed after a minute, when he knew it was a losing battle. "I think - uh," he stammered petering off as he felt bile rising in his throat.

"Don?" Colby asked his voice full of concern, and Don suspected Colby was looking right at him now. _Must be hard to watch the road that way, _part of him thought, the other part of him was too busy trying not to throw up in his own car to respond.

"Pull over," he finally managed. Immediately he felt the car slow to a stop. Clumsily he fumbled with the door handle and half collapsed out of his seat. Something held him back from falling all the way out, but Don did not really notice, he was too busy spraying his lunch over the gravel at the shoulder of the road.

He emptied his stomach, and was vaguely surprised at how much was there, since lunch had been sometime ago. However, the nausea did not pass when his stomach contents were depleted. Instead he spent several long minutes, hanging half-in half-out of the car painfully dry heaving.

Finally it passed and Don struggled to sit back up. His seatbelt was still on, he belatedly realized, which he supposed, accounted for why he had not taken a header onto the side of the road. A firm hand helped push him back into his seat, and Don noted that at some point Colby had come around to his side of the car. He really hoped he hadn't vomited on him, _or his car for that matter. _He forced his eyes open and fixed Colby with what he hoped was an apologetic look. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Colby just sighed and closed the door. A moment later Don heard the driver's door open and close as Colby got back in. For awhile the two agents sat in silence, Colby making no move to start the car.

"Uh, Colby?" Don asked finally prying his eyes back open, satisfied to find that the world around him remained stationary this time.

"This is a really bad idea," Colby replied not looking at Don.

"Come on Colb, please don't back out on me now," Don had the sneaking suspicion that he was whining but he could not bring himself to care.

Again Colby sighed. "So help me, I have no clue why I let you talk me into this," he replied, _a little melodramatically, _Don thought, but at least he started the car again.

The drive resumed in silence, and Don could not say he really minded. His shoulder had edge its way back up from a 'dull ache' to 'painfully throbbing'. And if his shoulder was painfully throbbing, then he did not want to know what his head was doing. Non-the-less, he had somewhere to be and he was going. Besides, he would feel a lot better once he got out of the car, he was sure. W_ell, pretty sure anyway. _

They drove on for awhile, maybe twenty minutes Don thought, but then he was fairly confident that his sense of time was shot right now so he could not be sure, when Colby muttered something that sounded vaguely profane under his breath. "How quickly does your car run out of gas when it's reading empty?" he asked innocently from the driver's seat.

Don, who had been resting his head against the nice cold window, shot up in his seat at the question. The sudden movement jostled his shoulder and he grunted in pain. He peered over to the gauges as best he could and saw that the needle was in fact pointing to the 'E'. _Well the car is still moving now, so that's a good sign right? _"I uh, I dunno," he muttered. After-all he had never in fact tested exactly how far one could drive when the car's gauge was proclaiming itself devoid of fuel.

"Great," Colby replied, sounding anything but pleased. "I think there's a gas station a block or so off here," he said making a quick turn, catching Don off balance and causing him bang his shoulder into the door.

"You think?" Don muttered darkly, not really liking the sound of that.

"I'm pretty sure?" Colby offered back.

It actually turned out to be more like five blocks, but they some how managed to make it without puttering to a unfortunate halt. Colby shut the car off and hoped out. Don, after fighting with the seat belt for a minute, slowly followed.

"Where you going?" Colby asked eyeing Don carefully.

"Get water," Don said gesturing towards the convince store. "And a breath mint," he added as he walked away. He really needed a breath mint. Behind him, he could swear he heard Colby laugh.

The small store was quiet. A bored looking teenager flipped through a magazine behind the counter and barely looked up when he came in. He headed straight to the back of the store, to the cooler and opened the door to retrieve a bottle of water. The cold air that blasted out of the unit felt really nice, and Don just stood there for a moment staring at the drinks wondering exactly what he had been looking for.

Behind him, he heard the front door of the store open. _Colby, _Don figured still staring at the drinks, _now what was he looking for again? Water right. _He grabbed the first bottle of water he could see and closed the cooler's door.

Colby must have followed him in, because clearly he could not be trusted to fetch a bottle of water on his own, without supervision, _funny last time he had checked _he_ was _Colby's_ supervisor. _Ah well, clearly this was no longer the case. _Well it did take you an unusually long time, _his mind felt compelled to remind him. He shrugged it off and made his way back up the aisle reading the bottle in his hand. 'Pure Spring Water' it declared proudly. The nutrition facts listed a line a zeros. _Now why do they bother putting that on a bottle of water? It's water for crying out loud, what is supposed to be in it? Proteins? _

He had just made it to the end of the shelves when he finally looked up. The man who had come in was not in fact Colby. He had darker hair and was bigger. His back was to Don as he was facing the cashier, something about his stance set an alarm off in Don's sluggish brain. He drew his gaze from the man's back to the teenage clerk, who was looking at the man with wide-eyed fear. Don blinked slowly, he knew that look. He really ought to know what to do about that look. _Really. _He automatically reached for his gun. Unfortunately he forgot the bottle of water he was holding which he dropped to the ground. It bounced loudly, and the man whirled around surprised.

Don froze and blinked dazedly into the dark gun barrel that suddenly appear in his face.


	5. Part III Robin

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Zai: So this chapter contains a minor reference to the episode "Checkmate" (season 4). Again, thanks cflat, Pink Blackberry Girl, Cris, Schmidj3 and Saphiretwin. I really appreciate all your comments.

* * *

Taking a long calming breath, Robin leaned against the fence of her parents' back porch watching a squirrel digging in the yard before her. It was getting dark now, and above her a crescent moon was clearly visible in the evening sky. Not that Robin really noticed, her mind was too occupied slowly replayed the conversation she had just had with her parents. Her father, had finally found his voice, and he did not seem to agree with his wife's comment that Don's job did not matter. Apparently, 'it did in fact matter, and Robin really ought to be able to see that for herself.'

Thankfully, due to a buzzer from the kitchen indicating that dinner required attention, the conversation had been aborted before it could become a repeat of the arguments they used to have over Robin's job. While her parents were otherwise engaged, Robin had taken the opportunity to disappear out back. Although she was not usually one to back down from a fight, in fact she made a career out of arguing, she was just too tired to get into it with her parents today, and it was not like anything she ever said to them seemed to make a difference anyway. S_he really, really ought to have stayed in bed, and made Don stay too. The day would have turned out much nicer that way. _

She had of course realized that she would eventually have to tell her parents what Don did for a living, she had just assumed Don would have been there at the time and her parents would have been to busy being polite hosts to comment. _Of course, maybe it's better this way, _she thought. While her parents may have not said anything in front of Don about their disapproval, she supposed her nephews would have been less tactful, and would have just directed their barrage of questions at Don himself, and that would have been awkward._ At least for him_.

"Hey," Hannah's voice came from behind her, startling Robin and causing her to jump slightly.

"I didn't hear you come out," she replied after a moment, glancing over her shoulder to see her older sister silhouetted by the house lights.

Hannah came up beside her and leaned on the fence next to her. "You want a drink?" she asked holding a cooler out to Robin.

"Definitely," Robin replied taking the offered bottle, "Though I think I could use something a little stronger."

"Yeah, that uh, didn't go over so well did it?"

Robin snorted quietly, _understatement of the year. _"No kidding. They still in the kitchen?"

"I think so," Hannah replied glancing back over her shoulder towards the house. "Look Robin, I'm sorry about the boys, I guess their imaginations are a little too developed," she said with a small almost nervous laugh. "I'm sure he's a perfectly nice guy. And it's not like it's as bad as their all making it out to be, right?"

Robin turned to look at her sister confused, "What do you mean?"

"Him being a federal agent. I mean I'm sure lots of cops and agents never even have to use their weapon in the field, sure it's not the safest job, but it's not like he goes off dodging bullets and bombs everyday right?" Hannah replied sipping on a second cooler that she had brought out.

Robin turned her gaze back towards the back lawn, not wanting to reply. She was sure Hannah was right, lots of agents probably did go through most of their career without being involved in too many life-or-death situations. However, those agents did not work in the violent crime squad like Don, more likely they worked white-collar crimes, or counter-intelligence. Not to say Don did not have cases that were less dangerous, but as a general rule, most of the cases he worked had at least the potential to turn deadly.

In fact Robin knew all too well what kind of risks Don's job entailed, and she really could not deny that he had taken lives in the line of duty either. As it was, she still occasionally had nightmares recalling the night she had come far too close to becoming an assassin's next victim, and while she was eternally grateful to Don's timely arrival, she _really _did not think that was something she should mention to her family. _Ever__. _

"You know," she said at last deciding a change of subject would be her safest response, "I actually kind of wish Jonathan were here. What was his excuse this time anyway?"

"Hm?" her sister asked, "Oh I don't know, does he even need one anymore?" Jonathan, their younger brother was a video game designer in Seattle, and he possessed the skill to somehow talk his way out of coming home ninety percent of the time he was asked. "I think he promised to come over for Easter weekend or something."

"Not likely," Robin replied, while at the same time wishing she had thought to try that, even though it would likely not have changed anything, at least she could have delayed it longer. _And maybe Don would have actually shown up._

"Yeah, but I really don't think that even his extreme lack of a life could distract Mom from that little announcement you just made in there," Hannah commented. Although nearly thirty, their brother managed to spend nearly all of his free time glued to various computer games, something Robin could not really understand as he spent all day at work designing them. As a result, the vast majority of his friends, excluding the one who shared his apartment, were known to him only by the sound of their voices over his headset and as their character's image on his game screen.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Robin replied with a sigh. "It's a shame he isn't still dating that girl he met online, Mom really did not like her."

Hannah laughed, "No she did not. But hey, I'm sure everything will be fine," she assured her sister, "They'll like him once they get to know him."

"Assuming he ever gets here," Robin mumbled turning back towards the house. "I guess we should go back in huh?"

"Probably," Hannah replied heading for the door, "They'll change their minds Robin, don't worry about it so much."

"Easy for you to say," Robin muttered as she followed her sister in, "You married a surgeon."


	6. Part III Don

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines

Zai: Thanks again to Saphiretwin and to Mjels for the reviews last chapter.

* * *

Taking a long slow breath, Don took stock of the situation before him. The man standing in front of him was a good few inches over six feet and probably had at least fifty pounds on Don. He also had a gun. A six chambered revolver to be more precises, _not that it mattered, _this close the guy only needed one round. Two if he wanted to take the clerk out too. Three if Colby came in. _Only Granger has a gun too, a nice .45 caliber Springfield tactical pistol. _Come to think of it, Colby coming in was starting to sound like an awful good idea. Too damn bad he had no way to relay that thought to his agent.

Course if Granger did come in, it would probably be better if he grabbed a tactical vest from the SUV first. This guy was looking a tad twitchy. In fact, Don realized dismally as he watched the unsteady hand holding a gun on him, the guy was_ a lot _twitchy. _Damn_. He really should have noticed that before. This guy was clearly on something. The whole cracking his head on cement thing was really messing with his thought processes. _Focus Eppes, plenty of time to worry about head injuries later, diffuse the junkie with the gun first. _

Right. Diffuse Junkie. He could do that, he had talked gun-men down before, it came with the job. Usually he had back-up, and a bullet-proof vest, but the basic principle was still the same right?

_Damn where was Granger when you need him?_ Don fought the sudden urge to glance towards the door in case the gun-man was aware enough to notice. If nothing else, Don could at least give Colby the advantage of surprise, whenever the younger agent felt like coming to the rescue.

"Fuck," the man muttered breaking the long silence, clearly he had not noticed anyone else in the store upon his entrance. _Probably meant he had missed the dark government issue SUV sitting at the pump, _Don decided, definitely a point in his favour.

Nervously the gun-man glanced quickly over his shoulder to look to the young teenage clerk, presumably to ensure that she had not run off while his attention had been other-wise engaged. Judging by the look of shocked terror on the girl's face, Don suspected she was not going to be trying anything, even with the gun-man facing away from her.

The gun-man's attention shifted back onto to Don, and in a moment of lucidity he seemed to realize he could not watch them both with one gun in their current positions. "You," he said to Don, gesturing at him with his pistol. "Move over by the counter. Slowly," he barked.

Cautiously Don complied, warily he watched the gun as it tracked his movements. Unconsciously he raised his hands slightly, attempting to appear unthreatening.

"What the hell!" The man yelled causing Don to jerk to a sudden stop. The man took a step back, his gun still trained on Don, "You some kind of fucking cop?"

Don followed the man's gaze to the gun holstered at his hip. Colby's too-long shirt had mostly covered the hostler and the strung-out man had not noticed the slight bulge, however when Don had raised his arms the shirt had pulled up enough the reveal the weapon. _So he misses the huge SUV out front, but he notices the half-hidden holster. Perfect, just perfect. _

"I asked you a question!" the man repeated, his focus shifting disconcertingly around the shop, and Don fervently hoped the man was not on anything that would cause hallucinations.

"Uh, I'm off-duty," Don offered, vaguely wondering why he thought that would make any difference to the impaired perpetrator.

"Fuck," the man muttered again, and Don wondered if it was the drugs limiting the man's vocabulary, or if this was the extent of his normal range. "Okay, uh," the man looked around anxiously again, "Put your gun on the ground. And don't try nothing."

Don nodded and tried not to wince as the gesture caused the pounding in his head to heighten, making thinking nearly impossible. Slowly he moved his right hand to the butt of his gun and carefully avoiding any sudden movement he bent down and deposited the weapon at his feet.

"Kick it away, and move to the counter," came the next order. The gun was still trained on Don but the man was clearly getting jumpier. He was nearly continuously glancing around and behind him while rocking slightly on the balls of his feet.

Don gave the gun a soft nudge with his foot and it slid a short distance across the floor. It was rather too pitiful to be termed a 'kick', but the gun-man either did not notice or just did not care. Don moved a little closer to the counter but stayed as close to his gun as possible. He figured if he dived he could probably reach it, only he was really not looking forward to hitting the ground with any degree of force. _At least not so soon after the last time, _he thought drearily. _Damn Granger, what the hell was he doing out-there anyway? _Don was beginning to have the uncomfortable feeling that he might have to do something soon. With or without Colby.

The gun-man shifted his attention back to the girl behind the counter. "You done yet?" he demanded, and Don now noticed that the cash-register was open and a bag lay on the counter top. He supposed the gun-man had thrust the bag at her just before Don had interrupted them.

"I-" the girl stammered giving Don a wide-eyed hopeless look. Don gave her what he hoped was an encouraging look and silently begged her to do what she was told. After what seemed like a long moment, but what was really probably only a few seconds, she reached for the bag with shaky hands and started to fill the bag.

Don turned his attention back to the gun, which was still pointed in his direction. It was better than having the weapon pointed at the young girl, he supposed, but it left him rather unable to do much of anything. He was in no hurry to make a return visit to the emergency ward.

Just as the girl finished emptying the register a jingle sounded from the direction of the front door. At the sudden noise, she jumped and dropped the bag. The gun man, also clearly startled, whirled around to face the sound. Don looked to the door, while his sluggish mind registered the noise as the bell over the door. Before he fully registered the thought, or the change in the situation, he found himself automatically diving toward his gun. He did his best to avoid landing on his injured arm, but even still he had to grit his teeth against a shout of pain as his battered body collided with the hard floor.

He fumbled for his Glock and scrambled into a crouch. His vision blurred for a moment as his head protested against the sudden action. He blinked furiously trying to focus on the scene and steady his gun.

"Put the weapon down!" Colby's familiar voice commanded from the direction of the doorway. Slowly the room shifted back into focus and Don could see the large figure of the junkie standing, gun raised towards Colby. The younger agent stood in the doorway, his own gun held significantly steadier and aimed right back at the robber.

"Fuck!" the gun-man swore again but made no move to drop his pistol.

Don steadied his own gun, as best he could, and shouted, "Put it down."

Startled the man turned to Don, looking as though he had forgotten the other agent was even there. His darting eyes settled on Don's gun, and the reality finally made it though his drug impaired mind. With two guns trained carefully on him, he blinked slowly and dropped the pistol at his feet.

As soon as the gun hit the ground, Colby was on the guy, pulling his hands behind him and securing them with his cuffs. Giving him a quick search, and finding nothing, Colby pushed the man to the ground near the counter. With his weapon still in hand but no longer aimed, he glanced over at Don with a glare. "Jeez Don. Put that down," he yelled as he collected the perpetrator's pistol.

Don blinked startled at Colby's outburst, but did as the younger agent asked and holstered his weapon. He slowly got to his feet and looked over at the clerk who was surprisingly still on her feet, although she looked ready to pass out any second. Spotting the water he had dropped, he grabbed it and went over to her. Taking her arm he lead her to the opposite side of the store, well away from where Colby was standing over the gun-man talking on his cell-phone.

He opened the bottle and handed it to her, "Here drink this. Slowly," he advised her gently. Numbly she took the bottle, her wide-eyed gaze sliding past him to fixate on the cuffed robber. He turned as Colby snapped his phone shut loudly.

The younger agent stayed near his prisoner but he glared dangerously at Don, "Are you insane?" he demanded loudly, "What did you think you were doing pulling a gun when you're concussed?"

"What the heck Granger, its not like I had a choice," he shot back frustrated, ignoring the shocked noise the girl made behind him. "Besides its not like I fired it," he added, knowing full well he would have if it had come to that. _Damn good it didn't though, _he decided, he _really _did not want to explain to a shooting review board why he was even carrying a gun much less shooting one while he had a head injury.

Colby sighed but did not say anything further. Don suspected it was because the other agent would have done the same if their roles had been reversed. In the distance Don heard the familiar whine of sirens approaching, and he knew LAPD was on their way. _Good, someone else can deal with this. _Don thought wearily as he slid to the ground, his back against the wall, suddenly unable to stand any longer. _Damn adrenaline. _


	7. Part IV Robin

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Zai: Thanks for the comments, Saphiretwin, Mjels, Kevlar and Schmidj3! I love to hear all your opinions on the story.

* * *

Six thirty found Robin and her family seated around the table heads bowed, as Mr. Brooks said a prayer over the meal. While Robin was sure her parents could have held off serving dinner for a little while, she had not bothered to argue the point, as she was forced to agree that it seemed unlikely a few minutes, or even half-an-hour would make much of a difference. Clearly Don was not coming.

She was, however, beginning to wonder what exactly that meant. It could be anything from he got caught up at work, to he was injured in a hospital somewhere . . . _or worse. _No. She was not going to start thinking like that. _You're just wound up because everyone keeps bringing up the dangers of his job. He probably just got caught up working. Again. _Besides, she told herself, she had just spoken to him that evening, and he had not really mentioned anything that indicated she should worry right? What exactly had he said? 'The case just got a little out of hand." _Well that could mean anything, _Robin thought dismally._ Knowing Don, that could be interpreted as a minor unexpected discovery or a full out tactical situation. _

She sighed, no use dwelling on the 'what ifs.' Besides if something had happened to him, surely someone would call her. Trying to focus on the food in front of her Robin forced her speculations about Don's current whereabouts from her mind.

There was very little conversation around the table. Her parents still seemed a little shell-shocked from their earlier 'conversation' and Matthew and Hannah were working hard to steer the conversation onto 'safe' topics. Matthew finished telling a story about some new resident working at the hospital, and the table fell into another awkward silence.

"Aunt Robin?" Randy spoke up eagerly from across the table. "Do you think maybe one day your new boyfriend could teach me and Josh to shoot?" he asked, the perfect picture of innocence.

"Uh, I don't think-" Robin started before she was interrupted by her father and sister simultaneously.

"Absolutely not!" Hannah replied firmly with a patented parental glare. "What possessed you to even think I would allow you near a firearm!"

"Shoot? Are you insane?" Mr. Brooks blurted nearly chocking on a piece of meat.

"Benjamin's father lets him shoot. They go hunting every year," Josh replied petulantly as the table lapsed into silence once again. Hannah, obviously feeling bad that her sons had brought the awkward topic back to the foreground tried to recover. "This roast is really great Dad," she commented, lightly, in a very obvious, very desperate, attempt to switch the topic. "Did you do anything special this time?" she asked, only to have her feeble attempt interrupted by the shrill ring of Robin's cell-phone.

Her family watched her closely as she pulled out the ringing phone. Normally, she would have turned it off at a family dinner like this, but as she was still hoping to hear something, _anything, _from Don she had left it on. She glanced at the caller id as she brought up the phone and stoped short when the display did not read the name she had been expecting. _Colby Granger, _Robin read and felt her heart pounding in her chest. She flicked the phone open quickly, trying to ignore her family's curious looks.

"Colby?" she asked tentatively, hoping that this was not what she thought it was.

"Robin, hi," Colby's voice came across the line.

"What's happened?" she asked desperately. _Please let Don be okay. Please. He has to be okay. _

"Uh, well it's kind of a long story, but the short of it is we have a flat," came the reply from the rather tired sounding agent.

"A flat?" Robin repeated dumbfounded. _That she had not expected. _In fact she had been so sure it was bad news about Don it took her a moment to register the words. "Like your tire?" she wondered aloud before realizing how stupid that sounded.

"Uh yeah," Colby replied sounded a tad confused, _and no wonder really, what exactly else could be flat? _Robin wondered still trying to think clearly. A_nd just why exactly was Colby phoning not Don? _Another part of her wondered. _In fact, why was Colby even still with Don, I thought he was supposed to be on his way over ages ago. _

"Look Robin, I don't think we are too far from your parents' place, and I was thinking it would probably be best if you came and got Don. It could take the tow truck awhile, and well, its kind of starting to rain."

"Okay," Robin replied slowly, somehow she was pretty sure she was not getting the full story, or even half of it. "Is everything else okay?" she asked quietly, not able to make herself ask directly if Don was hurt, as if somehow saying the words would somehow make her worst fears true.

"Well, uh," Colby stammered hesitantly, "like I said it's a rather long story. But Don's okay," Colby assured her, and she almost did not hear the added, "mostly."

"Wait. Mostly?" she repeated loudly, getting up from the table and ignoring the questioning looks she was receiving, "Just what does 'mostly' mean?" she demanded in her best 'cross-examination' tone.

A long sigh sounded on the other end, "Look Robin he'll be fine, but he did get a little, uh, roughed up earlier today. Anyway, I think you should really just come and get Don now," he replied before telling her exactly where they were and hanging up.

Robin clicked her phone shut and realized she had made her way to the front door without really paying attention. She had one shoe on and she glanced around desperately for the other while her parents watched from the doorway. "Robin, honey?" her mother asked concerned. "Who was that on the phone?"

"Colby Granger," she replied distractedly, wondering just where her other shoe had gotten to.

"Okay, um. Who is Colby Granger?" her mother prodded gently.

"Huh?" Robin asked finally glancing up at her parents. "Oh, he's an agent. Works with Don. I need to go," she explained as she found her shoe under a hall chair. "I'll uh, I'll call later," she announced half way out the front door. Her parents stared bewilderedly after her as she hurried down the front steps leaving the door wide open behind her.


	8. Part IV Don

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Zai: Thanks Mjels and Pink Blackberry Gril. Hope you guys, and everyone else enjoys the next chapter.

* * *

Six thirty found Don seated dismally on the side of the road, head bowed in defeat, beside him Colby muttered a curse and kicked the front wheel of Don's SUV. The tire was flat, the rather sudden jerk that ended with them stopped at the side of the road on a bit of a slant had told him that. _That and Colby's new found favourite words._ What he did not know was what they were going to do about it. Nor was he particularly sure if he cared anymore.

After a rather long talk with the responding police officers, Colby had managed to convince them it would be best for all involved if their statements were given the next day. _Turns out being concussed has some advantages. _Even if his head still felt like it was on the verge of exploding. Not that it mattered now, Don supposed, as he still had not managed to make it to dinner.

He really ought to call Charlie. His younger brother would surely be able to tell him the odds of all this happening to him, in one day no less. Specifically on the one day he was _supposed _to meet Robin's parents. And most importantly Charlie could tell him the likelihood of him ever having to endure a day like this again. Though he was really beginning to wonder if Charlie's statistics actually applied to him, since he seemed to always be the 'anomaly.'

Colby swore again, and headed over to where Don was seated. "This is bloody ridiculous. What'd you do break a dozen mirrors or something?" Colby muttered darkly, and Don concluded that if he had not regretted giving the scene to David before, he certainly did now. Personally, Don was regretting getting out of bed this morning. He was about to wonder if his day could possibly get any worse, but refrained as he knew that would just be asking for it. _Though really? What else could happen?_

"I bet Dave's at home in front of his tv with a beer," Colby grossed as he headed rear of the SUV.

"Probably," Don replied, shifting his shoulder gently, as it had started cramping up. He seriously hoped Colby was not expecting him to help change the tire. _Only, Granger is going to have an awfully hard time changing the tire with or without your help since the spare isn't in the car. _Well Damn. "Uh Colb?" he called as he heard the younger agent open the trunk.

"Yeah?" Colby's reply came from behind the SUV.

"I don't actually have a spare back there," Don admitted. Colby's head shot around the back of the vehicle and he stared at Don incredulously.

"You don't have a spare?" he asked disbelievingly. "Why the hell not?"

"I used to keep one, but the tactical gear doesn't fit with it in there. So uh. . . " he petered off with a half shrug that ended in a wince of pain.

"Well, shit," Colby replied eloquently, emphasising his words by slamming the back of the car closed, rather loudly Don thought. Colby sighed and pulled out his cell, "I'll call for a tow."

"Right," Don replied. _He was never going to get to Robin's parents. _He glanced down at his watch only to find it still read two o'clock. _Right, broken. _And he had really liked that watch. Maybe he could get it fixed somewhere. It was a really good watch. He stared blankly at the damaged face for a while longer but as it offered no new information, he gave up with a sigh. Judging by the evening light or rather the lack of light, Don concluded it was probably after six thirty anyway. _So much for not breaking that promise. _

Colby's raised voice interrupted Don's self-pitying thoughts. "Forty-five minutes?" he demanded into the phone with an annoyed expression. Clearly whatever was said on the other end did nothing to help as he slammed the phone shut with an audible click a moment later. "They say it'll probably be forty-five minutes," Colby explained needlessly, despite his current state Don had gathered that all on his own.

"Oh," Don replied not sure what else he was expected to say. It was not like he could do anything about it anyway.

"Come on," Colby said gesturing to the car, "Let's wait in the truck, it's warmer." Now that he mentioned it, Don was a little cold. Probably since he was only wearing Colby's dress-shirt. _Not that Granger is all that better off, _Don noted, as Colby was wearing just a t-shirt and his wind-breaker.

Tiredly Don got up and made his way over to the SUV. He tugged at the door, which refused to budge. He tugged again, with similar results. "It's locked," Don announced after a moment, with a look to Colby for help.

Colby rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket for the keys. He came up empty and looked back at Don bewilderedly. "You uh, you haven't got the keys have you?" Don stared at him blankly. "Guess that's a no. . ." Colby muttered glancing around, "Well, they've got to be 'round here somewhere. . ."

After watching Colby make two thorough searches of the area around the vehicle Don concluded, from his perch back on the ground that no, they did not in fact 'have to be around here somewhere.' The keys were officially gone. _Vanished, poof, gone, no more. _Maybe they had disappeared to where ever his cell-phone had gotten to. . . But that could not be right. _Things don't just vanish Eppes. _Wearily Don glanced around the area, not really expecting to find anything - _it just was not his day, _he had accepted that - but still, the keys had to be _somewhere_. His eyes rested on the SUV itself, and he had a sudden memory of a time when he had left his keys in the back, fortunately the front door had not been locked but . . . _that's where they are. Granger dropped them in the trunk. Brilliant. _

Returning to the car Colby tried, unsuccessfully, to convince one of the doors to open without the key. Giving up he peered in through the front window. "I don't see them," he muttered to himself.

"They're in the trunk," Don offered, feeling obliged to share his new found insight.

Colby turned to face Don, leaning back against the car. "Well shit," he muttered, "You're probably right. I must have dropped them in there when I was looking for the tire. A tire that doesn't even exist I might add."

Don tried his best to look apologetic, _but hey_, _it was not like he had intentionally dragged Colby on this little misadventure of his_. _In fact, it was Granger who had insisted on tagging along._ Although to be perfectly honest, Don was rather glad Colby had been around back at the gas station. _Even if he did take his sweet time coming in. _

Colby started pacing around the truck, clearly frustrated. He glanced at his watch as though willing it to go faster. _Yeah right._ Don shivered in the cool evening air, and watched as Colby checked his watch again. _Fourth time in about a minute and a half. _Don though absently. Colby reached the end of the SUV, turned, checked his watch, again, and ran his fingers through his hair. Don snorted, _it was kind of funny. After-all how many times had his team mates ragged on him for his little nervous habits? And here was Colby, doing a very good imitation without even noticing. _

Colby looked over at the sound, "Are you okay?" he asked cautiously.

This time Don full out laughed. _Was he okay? What kind of question was that?_ Colby looked at him concerned, and glanced at the watch again. The motion set Don off again, and it took him a couple minutes to get enough air to form a coherent sentence. "You're asking me if I'm okay?" he gasped. "I was practically blownup, then I got my head nearly blown off, and now, now we're sitting on the side of some road locked out of a car that won't drive anyway," he paused his rambling as a large water droplet splashed on his head. "And I think it's raining," he added. "So yeah Colb. I'm just peachy." A second drop hit and he shivered again. _Damn that water was cold. _

Colby blinked at him a moment, then looked up at the sky in time to catch a rain droplet in the face. "Wonderful." He turned back to Don, "Here you should put this on." He said slipping out of his wind-breaker, and offering it to his boss. The thin material would not help much, but it was all he had.

Don shook his head. "Not going to make a difference Granger. We're both going to get soaked," he replied, sounding a little more like his usual self, so Colby put the jacket back on. The rain picked up a bit and Don watched intently as the droplets splashed on the pavement. He did not notice as Colby pulled out his cell and made another call. He did however notice the rather large raindrop that slid down the back of his - _make that Granger's - _shirt.


	9. Part V Robin

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Zai: Wow! Thanks everyone for all the reviews on the last chapter, I really am glad you are all enjoying my story so much!

* * *

Robin listened aimlessly to the rain as it pattered off the roof of her car. It had really started raining by the time she turned off onto the street Colby had indicated. Traffic had been light the entire way, and this street was no different. In fact, besides the familiar large SUV parked on the shoulder it was basically deserted. She pulled her car over just in front of Don's car putting it into park as she took in the sight of two rather sorry looking federal agents.

Colby stood leaning against the SUV, his light jacket was clearly soaked through, and he looked thoroughly miserable. A few feet away Don was seated on the gravel shoulder. The dark blue ill-fitting dress shirt he wore was stained even darker from the rain, he was not even wearing a jacket. He stared drearily at the road as though he had not even noticed her car pull up.

She hurried out of the car barely even noticing that she had forgotten her own coat back at her parents' house. "Don?" she called trying to get his attention.

"Robin?" he questioned as he looked up at her, bewildered. His dark bangs were plastered to his head from the rain and as he blinked up at her dazedly. Robin could not help but think that he looked rather pitiful, in an adorable sort of way.

"Come on," she said, offering her hand and helping him off the ground. She directed him towards her car. "You too Colby," she called noting that Colby had not moved from his position by the SUV.

A minute later they were all in Robin's car, dripping water all over her seats. _Oh well, _Robin thought, _at least they are out of the rain now. _Although, she was still quite confused as to why the two agents had been sitting in the rain to begin with.

She turned to ask Don who was seated beside her in the passenger seat, but when she looked at him now, she noticed several details that had escaped her attention before. For one thing he was rather pale. The second thing she noticed was a small row of stitches half hidden by his wet bangs._ Stitches._ What the hell did they teach agents at Quantico that made them think that stitches qualified as getting 'a little roughed up'. For a moment, Robin had a hard time deciding if she wanted to yell at him or hold him.

Without thinking she reached forward to brush Don's hair out of the way so she could see the whole injury, but the red inflamed skin around the stitches made her pause, her hand hovering in the air a moment before she dropped it back to her lap. "What happened?" she asked, concern clear in her voice.

Don, who had been leaning back in the seat with his eyes shut, turned now to face his girlfriend, "We, uh, got a flat," he offered. He had either missed her motion, or was deliberately mis-answering her question. Robin was not really sure which.

"I meant your head," Robin clarified with a slight gesture towards the injury.

"Oh," Don mumbled sitting back again. "It's fine. Just a cut."

Robin fixed Don with a disbelieving look, but he did not seem to notice. In fact Don seemed rather unusually unobservant at the moment. Her concern rose a notch and she turned her gaze to the back seat and Colby instead.

Colby looked warily at his boss, as though weighing his best course of action, before speaking. "Don took a blow to the head this afternoon," he admitted finally.

"Granger," Don warned.

"Hey, unless you would rather I spend the night watching you, Robin needs to know what to be watching for," Colby countered.

Don sighed and turned to Robin. "I have a minor concussion."

"Moderate," Colby piped up helpfully from the back and Don shot him a dirty look.

"What happened?" Robin asked again, this time not really sure she wanted to know the answer. The way Don was avoiding it made her wonder if it was a closer call than he wanted to admit.

"Witness interview didn't go quite as planned," Colby replied vaguely. "But the doctor checked him out said as he should be fine, but to go back to the hospital if any of the symptoms worsen or if you have a hard time waking him."

Robin nodded numbly. Right, _back to the hospital. _It would have been nice if someone had thought to tell her that her boyfriend had been to the hospital in the first place. "You're sure you're okay?" she asked Don.

He started to nod but seemed to think better off it at the last second. "Yeah. Robin I promise, I'm fine. I just want to go home and sleep," he mumbled the last bit, but Robin still heard.

Colby looked out at the down pour dismally, looking as though he was expecting to have to leave, Robin asked, "How long till the truck arrives?"

"Uh, should be here in about fifteen," Colby answered.

Robin nodded, "Okay." She turned to watch Don, who seemed to be watching the rain falling on the hood of the car. "We'll head home soon, okay?" She had a feeling she owed Colby at least that much. _Probably a lot more, if it had been as bad as she was beginning to think it was. _

"'Kay," Don muttered.

Silence fell in the car, and Robin watched Don absently. How close had she come to losing him today? _Did she even want to know?_ She sighed, probably not. This was not how she had pictured this evening, _at all. _

A pair of headlights turned onto the street and headed towards them. _Tow truck, _Robin thought. Colby clearly noticed it too as he gather his jacket, which he had pulled off. He reached for the door handle and paused, "Don, uh, you don't need me to pick you up tomorrow do you?" he asked.

"Tomorrow?" Robin asked confused, Don would surely be on medical leave, why would Colby possibly think he would need to take Don anywhere.

"Huh?" Don asked clearly as confused as Robin.

"I told the LAPD guys you'd make your statement tomorrow remember?"

"Oh. Right," Don replied with a sigh. "I'll find a ride, thanks though Colby."

"Statement?" Robin wondered aloud. "Why does he need to talk to LAPD?" she asked Colby who was looking over to the tow truck that was just slowing down behind the SUV. "Colby?"

He finally looked back at Robin, and then shot another fleeting look at his boss before answering. "Uh, we came across an active scene on the way over, LAPD just needs Don's account of events for their records."

"An active scene?" she asked. Was it too much to ask for them just to say what _actually_ happened? Did they really have a pre-arranged euphemism for everything?

"Some guy jacked up on something decided to hold up a gas-station," Don replied quietly. "Granger took him down."

Oh. Of course. An active scene._ Well no reason to worry there. _Robin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, telling herself not to freak out. _All part of the job description of being an agent's girlfriend. _Besides, she could always freak out at Don later, when he was more coherent.

Colby reached for the door, looking rather desperate to leave before he was asked anything else. "I just have one question," Robin said stopping him as another thought occurred to her, "Why exactly were the two of you standing out it the rain?"

A small grin appeared on Don's face. "Go ahead Colb," he offered with slight wave of his hand, "you seemed so eager to field all her other questions."

Colby ducked his head sheepishly. "I, uh, I locked the keys in the trunk," he admitted before slipping out the door to meet with the truck driver who was now hooking up Don's SUV in preparation to tow it.

Robin raised an eyebrow and looked at Don, "Seriously?"

"Yup," Don replied. "And Granger thinks I have bad luck."


	10. Part V Don

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Zai: Thanks for the encouragement! I really appreciate it.

* * *

Don listened as the rain pounded off the skylight in Robin's hallway. It was still miserable outside, but Don did not mind. In fact he thought the weather was rather fitting to finish off his absolutely awful day. He kicked off his shoes by the front entrance and made it as far as the bedroom, before he sank down onto the corner of the bed exhausted.

He was still soaking wet, and he knew he really ought to do something about that. However, it seemed far too much effort to simply move at the moment. Robin followed him into the room a moment later, she too was soaked, and Don belatedly wondered where her jacket was. _Some boyfriend you are Eppes. _

Robin headed over to the dresser and pulled a pair of sweats from his drawer and tossed them to him. As he made no effort to catch them, they landed on the bed, and Don stared at them a long moment before finally talking himself into movement. Clumsily he fumbled with the buttons on Colby's dress-shirt.

Robin watched him from across the room where she discarded her wet clothes in favour of a purple tank-top and her pyjama pants. "That's not your shirt," she commented.

"I borrowed it off Colby," he explained, tossing the shirt towards the laundry hamper across the room, and missing dismally. "My shirt got, uh, messed up," he finished lamely. _Smart Eppes, like you haven't freaked her out enough for one day, why not just tell her your shirt is in some hospital garbage can covered in your blood. _

She looked at him quizzically but thankfully did not ask. He slipped into the dry pants, and tossed his slacks after Colby's shirt, and flopped back on the bed. It felt unbelievably nice to just lay on the soft mattress and not move. He watched as Robin ran a brush through her long wet hair. Her back was to him, as she faced the mirror and Don could not help but admire her. He loved her so much, _and yet he had let her down. _

"I'm sorry," he apologized quietly.

Robin set the brush down on the dresser and came over to the bed. "For what?" she asked gently.

"For ruining today. I promised you I'd be there," Don replied looking up at her seriously. His head was pounding, and he really just wanted to sleep, but he needed her to know he had not meant for today to happen."I really am sorry."

"Don," Robin said, crawling onto the bed. "It wasn't your fault," she said leaning in and kissing him gently. "Besides," She added as she broke the kiss, "Maybe it would be best if you meet my parents some time when my sister and her family aren't there."

"Why?" Don asked, curious.

"It seems that my young nephews are a little too interested in the more violent aspects of your career. Namely your sidearm," Robin replied lying down beside him and resting her head on his chest.

The sudden pressure on what was likely to be a large and rather dark bruise come tomorrow, prevented Don from answering as he drew in a sharp pained breath. Robin shot up immediately. "Don! Are you okay?" she asked startled.

He smiled weakly up at her, "Yeah, just sore," he admitted, "Really sore."

She looked down at him suspiciously, "What really happened today?"

Don sighed, "We went out to interview this witness. Only turns out our witness is more like a suspect, and he really doesn't like feds showing up at his door." Don looked away, he did not want to worry Robin more than she already was, but he did not want to lie to her either. It was hard, but he knew he had to stop shutting her and his family out. He had driven Robin away once before, and he was damned if he was going to lose her again. "I was closest to the door when it blew," he told her softly.

Robin leaned back against the headboard. "But you're okay?" she asked her voice sounding a little unsteady and Don seriously hoped he had not made things worse.

"The concussion is the worst of it," he assured her quickly. "A few bruises, and I dislocated my shoulder."

She ran her fingers idly through Don's still damp hair, "What about that other thing?" she asked tentatively, "The LAPD business."

"We stopped at a gas station, I went into the store and a couple minutes later this junkie walks in and tries to hold the place up, till Granger walked in and he realized he was screwed. He surrendered." _So maybe he was stretching the truth a little bit . . . At least he was trying right?_

Robin said nothing for a long moment and Don tilted his head back so he could see her face, "Robin, are you all right?"

"Yeah," she breathed softly. "I just . . ." she sighed and leaned forward and kissed Don again, longer this time. When they separated, she whispered, her face still close to his "I don't want to lose you."

"Hey," he said gently cupping her chin. "I'm not going anywhere," he promised, and despite the fact they both knew there was no way he could guarantee it, she nodded at his assurance.

Robin slid down so that she was lying next to Don, and he moved closer and loosely wrapped his arm around her. She shifted gently into his body, conscious of his injuries. "You know, you're still going to have to meet my parents one day," she told him trying for a playful tone, but Don could still hear her concern.

Don smiled and kissed her head lovingly. "I know, Robin," he murmured. It was still relatively early, but after the events of the day, Don felt incredibly drowsy, he let his eyes slip shut and just enjoyed the feel of holding Robin close to him. _Maybe today wasn't such a bad day after all, _he his head was still pounding, and he was going to hurt tomorrow, but he was alive right? And so he may have blown his first impression with Robin's parents without even being there, but she still here in his arms. And that was all that mattered, really.

_And best of all, his cell-phone was lying in a lot of pieces somewhere, and so there was no way he could get dragged out of Robin's bed tomorrow morning by some ill-fated phone call. _

_

* * *

_

Zai: So, originally, this was supposed to be the final chapter. However, I have been receiving so many reviews from people wanting to see Don finally meeting Robin's parents. As a result I have been considering adding on an epilogue, or a continuation of some sorts. However, as this is all I have written at the moment, and I have just entered the dreaded last three weeks of term when suddenly everything is due and exams are looming, it may take me a little while to get it written out. I want to thank everyone again for reading, especially everyone who has reviewed so far, and thanks (in advance) to all those who reviews this chapter (let me know if you still want to see them meet!)


	11. Epilogue Don

Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters or story lines.

Zai: So I finally got this epilogue written. Sorry it took me awhile, I needed a bit of time to figure out where I wanted it to go, and then I had to find the time to actually write it. I hope it was worth the wait. Again I really want to thank eveyone who read this story, and especially those who reviewed, and thanks in advance to those who review this addition.

* * *

The ringing of a telephone brought Don to consciousness early Sunday morning. He groaned quietly and grabbed his new cell phone off the table. _Who on earth was phoning him at this time? _It was a week after his rather _eventful _weekend and Don was still restricted to desk duty, which meant there was no logical reason for anyone to be dragging him out of bed so early.

A glance at the display indicated it was seven past ten. . . _Seven past ten? Okay, maybe not quite so early then. . . _He glanced at the bedside clock for confirmation. He could not actually remember the last time he had managed to sleep in so late.

The phone range again interrupting his thoughts, and it finally occurred to Don that it was not even his cell phone ringing. It was the land-line. Which was all the way across the room, on the dresser. The phone rang again, and Robin moaned sleepily, "Make it stop."

"Hon, it's your phone," Don told her, but his only answer was a view of the back of Robin's head as she buried her face into her pillow. Don sighed, and slipped out of the warm bed. He made it to the phone just before it began its fourth ring. "Hello?" he answered sleepily.

"Hello," a female voice came on the line, "Is this Don?"

"Uh, yes."

"It's good to finally talk to you Don," the woman on the other end replied brightly. "This is Natalie, Robin's mom."

Robin's mom. _Oh._ "Good morning Mrs. Brooks," Don said, now wide awake, and for some reason feeling oddly like he had as a teenager when his mom had caught him making out with his girlfriend in the garage. He shifted the phone in his hand uncomfortably.

"I trust you're feeling better?" Mrs. Brooks asked kindly.

"Hm? Oh, yes thank you I am," Don replied. "Robin's just in the other room," he added quickly, "I'll go grab her for you." Setting the phone down he headed back to the bed. "Robin?" he hissed near her ear.

"Unhh?" she moaned.

"Your mom's on the phone."

"Huh?" Robin asked much more clearly as she sat up.

"Phone. Your mother," Don repeated pointing across the room at the afore mentioned object.

"Oh." Robin climbed out of bed and grabbed the handset. "Hey mom." She listened for a moment and Don watched as she blushed deeply. "No uh, no you're not interrupting anything," she quickly assured her mother. She fell silent for another moment, before replying, "This afternoon? No we didn't have any plans."

Half-way back into bed Don paused. It sounded like their lazy day in bed was being put on hold. He got up and headed towards the ensuite bathroom, still listening to Robin's half of the conversation. "One? Yeah, sure that's fine. We'll see you then? Okay, bye Mom."

Grabbing his toothbrush, Don glanced back into the bedroom in time to see Robin replace the phone on its hook. "So what's the plan?" he asked.

"We're going to my parents for lunch." Robin replied joining Don in the small room. "My sister Hannah and her family spent the week in Phoenix visiting her brother-in-law. They're stopping back at Mom and Dad's on their way home. Mom thought, since we missed dinner last weekend, that we might want to come by," she explained wrapping her arms around Don from behind.

"Sounds good," he replied around the toothbrush.

"I said we'd be there by one, so I guess we should get ready," Robin said as she playfully ran one hand through Don's sleep tousled hair. "Your hair's a mess," she teased.

"Well it is now," he agreed with a grin, Robin rolled her eyes at him in the mirror.

"Funny Eppes," she muttered gesturing behind them at the shower, "You want it first?"

Nodding Don extracted himself from her hold and moved to find a towel from the closet. As he moved past her, she stopped him with a hand on his arm, her playfulness from the moment before, gone. "You are okay with this right? I mean if your head is still bothering you. . ." she trailed off, running a gentle finger across the faint scar that had remained after the stiches had been removed.

"I'm fine," he assured her seriously. "I'll be back in the field this week. The headaches are mostly gone. Except of course for the ones brought on by spending all day at my desk filing case reports," he added lightly.

"All right," Robin replied after giving him a long appraising look. She turned and headed out of the room, calling back over the shoulder, "You better save me some hot water."

-x-x-x-x-

At a quarter to one, Don pulled his SUV to the side of the road in front of a tidy two story home. He glanced at his wrist, only to remember he had yet to get his watch repaired. Robin, catching the gesture smiled teasingly, "You're not nervous now are you Agent Eppes?" Don felt himself flush slightly, and Robin looked surprised, "Oh, wow," she murmured. "You _are_ nervous."

Don shot her a look. "No. Not really," he denied, "It's just, well I kinda of blew my first impression already, without even being here."

"Don," Robin told him firmly, "You were hurt, they understand that. It'll be fine," she assured him.

"Yeah," he muttered quietly. They walked up the front path together and Don knocked firmly on the door, expertly masking his insecurities. Robin's father, a tall lean man with thinning white hair answered the door, giving Robin a quick hug before he stiffly offered his hand out to Don.

"Don is it?"

"Yes sir," Don replied shaking the offered hand.

"Liam," Mr. Brooks said, stepping back to let the couple into the front hall. He led the way into a modest living room. One sofa was occupied by a woman whom Don identified as Robin's sister Hannah by her dark hair and familiar features. Robin came up behind Don, "Don this is Hannah and her husband Matthew."

The group exchanged greetings and Don and Robin had just settled on a second couch when two young boys made their way into the room from the backyard. "Hey Aunt Robin," one of the boys called before they both turned their attention to Don.

"Don these are my nephews Randy and Josh," Robin introduced, "Boys, this is Don."

Don smiled at the two boys wondering if Robin realized he had no clue which boy was which. Not only were the boys clearly identical twins, they were also dressed rather similarity and she had not really been specific with her introduction.

"You're an FBI agent?" one of the boys asked a slight tone of awe in his voice.

"Josh," his mother spoke warningly, just as an older woman, who also shared many features with Robin although her dark hair had long ago gone grey, walked into the room.

"Lunch is just about ready," she announced. "Boys why don't you go wash up?" she suggested, sending her grandsons scampering from the room. Natalie Brooks made her way over to Don. "We're so glad to finally meet you Don," she said with a smile despite the guarded expression Don noticed on her husband's face that clearly said he was not sure if he agreed with the sentiment.

"Thanks for having me," he replied. "I'm sorry about last week's dinner," he added sincerely.

"Oh that's all right," Natalie assured him, before ushering the group into the dinning room. Don found a seat next to Robin, on one side of the table. Josh and Randy sat down across from them, both giving Don curious looks. Robin's parents took seats at the ends of the table.

Liam led the family in a quick prayer and then gestured to the food on the table, "Help yourselves."

They were quiet as they passed around the various plates of food, most of the conversation revolving around, "Could someone pass the -?" As they settled in and started eating though, the questions finally started. Don had been expecting it, but it still felt rather uncomfortable. Maybe it was because he never really liked being the centre of attention, or he was just so unused to it. Or perhaps it was just he preferred to be asking questions rather than answering them. Of course, Don decided, it could be the guarded and watchful gaze Liam Brooks kept sending him, but really, he faced dangerous criminals down most days, why should his girlfriend's father make him feel nervous?

"So Don," Natalie Brooks started pleasantly, "Have you always lived in LA?"

Normally the first questions would probably have been about his job, but he got the feeling that everyone was trying to avoid the subject of his work. "Well, I grew up in Pasadena, but I was posted out of state for several years," he replied non-specifically.

"Don ran the field office out in Albuquerque for a few years," Robin added, seeing Don was not going to offer anything further.

"Oh?" Hannah asked, "So you're in a supervisory position then?" Don could not help but notice that Josh and Randy looked a little disappointed at this prospect.

"I, well sort of," Don replied, "I'm the field agent in charge of my division now."

"Isn't that kinda moving backwards?" Liam interjected.

Don gave a half shrug. "A few years back I decided I needed to be move back home, and the position was what was available." He decided not to mention why he needed to come back home. His mother's death was not something he generally talked about. Ever.

"Hannah and Matt live out in San Jose," Robin said and Don smiled at her gratefully for the change in subject.

The discussion drifted off Don for awhile, and Don noticed Robin helping to keep it that way. Matt talked about the hospital he was working at. Apparently the guy was a surgeon. Hannah it turned out, was a nurse and Don wondered if they too had met through work.

"So Robin," her father began at a break in the conversation, "Easter is coming up in a few weeks. You will be coming to Mass with us this year won't you?"

"Oh, uh I don't know Dad," Robin muttered looking decidedly awkward.

"Don's welcome to join us too, of course," her mother put in.

Don glanced uncertainly at Robin, _well in all the ways he had imagined this to go wrong, he really had not consider this. _After all, Robin was not religious at all. In fact, him exploring his faith had lead to a brief awkward period between them, until Robin had let Don know she would support him even if she did not quite understand where his need to explore his heritage had suddenly come from. He really had not stopped to consider her family's beliefs.

"You're not protestant are you?" Liam wondered aloud, earning himself a disapproving glare from his wife.

"Don's Jewish," Robin explained.

"Oh," her mother replied with a slightly forced smile.

The silence around the table was just encroaching into seriously awkward when one of the boys, Josh, Don was pretty sure, spoke up. "Mom, we're done can we go out back and play?"

Hannah looked over at her children. "You two haven't finished that work booklet Mrs. Henderson gave you." The twins looked about to protest but Hannah continued, "I checked, so don't tell me otherwise. You were supposed to finish it before we left Uncle Jake's, and since you're back in class tomorrow, you two had better go finish that now."

"But Mom," Randy whined, "It's just math."

"I don't see why we have to learn it anyway," Josh added, "It's not like it's good for anything!"

"You'd be surprised," Don replied automatically. _Great, now he was officially channelling Charlie. _Everyone looked at him confused. Well everyone except Robin, who actually looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"What do you mean?" Randy asked cautiously.

Don shrugged, "I thought math was pretty useless as a kid too, but there are really so many applications of math in the world."

"Like what?" this time Josh spoke, and Don vaguely wondered if they always alternated speaking or if was just some random coincidence.

"Well, uh, you like baseball?" he asked, and when both boys nodded he continued, "Well there is a type of math called sabermetrics, my brother could probably explain it better, but basically it's a statistical analysis of baseball players. I've seen it used pretty accurately to predict things like walks and hits." Don explained, while at the same time thinking of how he was going to kill his little brother the next time he saw him. Here he was actually trying to convince a couple kids about the values of math. _Clearly he was spending too much time with a certain math genius. _

The boys just looked at him skeptically. "Okay, that's not interesting enough? Well my brother, he's a mathematician, he actually works with the FBI to solve crimes."

"Using math?"

"Yeah. He uses mathematical expressions and helps us solve all sorts of cases. Robberies, kidnappings, you name it."

The boys looked at him wide-eyed, "Aunt Robin, is that true?" Josh queried disbelievingly.

"Yes it is. I've actually used some of Charlie's math in my cases," she assured them.

Apparently satisfied, the twins headed off to tackle whatever math assignment had been thrust upon them. Natalie gave Don an approving smile, at least the whole 'math is everywhere' routine he had apparently learned from Charlie had gotten him some approval points from the two mothers present if nothing else.

"You just have the one sibling?" Natalie asked.

"Yeah, but with Charlie, one was enough," Don commented without thinking.

"How's that?"

"Oh nothing against my brother," he quickly clarified, "he just required a lot of stimulation as a kid. When he was their age," he added gesturing at the door through which the twins had disappeared, "he was half-way through highschool. It was actually getting him to stop doing math that was the hard part. He was more likely to be calculating my walk percentage, than he was to be actually tossing a baseball around. Sometimes I actually wonder if statistics is his only interest in the sport at all," Don added with a little shake of his head. He really could not understand why his brother had to analyse everything, _didn't it take the fun out of just watching the game? _But then to Charlie the math probably _was _the fun part.

"You're a baseball fan I take it?" Liam asked, and for the first time since he had met Don at the front door, his vaguely disguised disapproval was gone.

Robin smiled, and Don recognized the look she usually got when she had finally found the right argument for a tough case. "Didn't I tell you Dad?" she asked innocently.

"Tell me what?" her father replied, playing perfectly into whatever it was Robin was planning.

"Don used to play pro ball," she announced sounding quite pleased with herself. Don really was not sure why.

"Pro ball? Really?" Liam asked turned to Don with a look of interest.

"I played in the minors for a few years," Don admitted uncomfortably, wondering what exactly Robin hoped to accomplish by bringing this up, "Up in Stockton."

"The Stockton Rangers right?" Liam asked. "Impressive. I played college ball myself, never made the pros though," he added wistfully. "Tried to get my son Jonathan to play, but he never took to the sport. Spends all his time in front of his blasted computer," he muttered.

-x-x-x-x-

Twenty minutes later Don, Liam and Matt were seated in the livingroom swapping baseball stories and discussing the Dodgers chances in the upcoming season. Well Don and Liam were discussing ball, Matt on the other hand, knew very little about the sport beyond what his boys talked about and was doing little more than nod in agreement as the two men talked.

Robin and Hannah watched them from the doorway. "See?" Hannah told her sister quietly, "I told you it would work out. Dunno why you didn't tell Dad he played ball from the get-go though."

"Honestly, I kinda forgot. Don doesn't usually talk about his baseball career all that much," Robin admitted watching her boyfriend fondly as he animatedly recounted some game to her father.

"Well, Dad is certainly glad to have someone to talk with, Matt is absolutely useless on the subject. And Mom seems to like him too," Hannah added. "And he actually got my kids to do their homework. Now that's new."

"Yeah he certainly is different," Robin commented.

Don looked up and seeing her in the doorway, flashed her a smile. The afternoon had turned out quite well after all. Not only did Robin's parents seem to like him, Liam Brooks was actually quite knowledgeable about baseball and they had been having a rather enjoyable talk for the last twenty minutes or so. _Must be some sort of cosmic balance_.

- end -


End file.
